Temperature effecting energy load The above analysis shows that temperature and energy load are directly proportional. Electricity consumption is heavily dependent on the climate of the region. Provided only the temperature data for 2019 and 2020 we are able to infer that as the temperature rises the energy load also increases. With the decrease in temperature the load also decreases. This may be due to more consumption of energy by appliances in hot climate and reverse is true for cold climate. The trend of temperature increases gradually from December till February and huge rise occurs in March. Whereas, the electricity trend also keeps rising and becomes maximum in the months of May, June and July (the most hot months). Greater demand of cooling appliances like air conditioners, fridges, and fans etc are biggest cause of load increase in summers. In cool weather, since the weather or temperature is moderate/low , the energy required by heavy load consuming devices also decreases, so overall energy load decreases. As temperature is directly impacting load consumption, load consumption is also somehow effecting it. With the increase demand of electricity in hot months, the more electricity is being produced. Research shows that approximately 40% of CO2 is being produced by electrical production which is direct cause of heat trapping and lead to rise in temperature in summer months. On contrary, in cold months, less energy is produced as the requirements for people are low. So less combustion of fossil fuels for power generation results in low production of CO2 and we don’t see high temperature in those time.
But in 2020 some abnormalities are shown in months of December, January and February with average increased temperature as compared to previous years. Despite the COVID-19 lockdown, atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases continued to rise, because of the presence of long lifetime of CO2 in the atmosphere, according to the report and temperature increases in those winter months as well.
Temperature effect on humidity, and humidity effect on electricity load
It is drawn from analysis of graph that humidity is highest in months of June, July and August and lowest in January, February, March, April and May. In summers since warm air holds the capability to retain more water vapors so humidity is higher in summer months and in winters, cold air usually contain less water vapors and humidity is lower. Water vapors in the air may condense to liquid water and release heat when air conditioning is in operation to cool indoor temperatures. Thus, electricity consumption can increase with specific humidity (or water vapor concentration) in warm seasons when cooling air conditioning is applied.
For the year of 2020, December is showing unexpected rise in humidity level and Jan, Feb, and March are also showing increased humidity level. Because of the increased temperature in these months as compared to past years the humidity temperature has also raised. However, since these months are winter months and due to overall less temperature people don’t consume huge amount of energy in form of AC, coolers and fans. So energy trend is lower for these months despite increased humidity level. Hence, it shows that temperature plays a key role in determining energy consumption.
Relation b/w temperature, apparent temperature and effect on energy load
Summer analysis Apparent temperature is the temperature equivalent perceived by humans, caused by the combined effects of air temperature, relative humidity and wind speed. It is shown in the graph that apparent temperature varies proportionally with temperature. As the temperature starts getting rise the apparent temperature also rises and opposite scenario is shown in winters. Relation between temperature and apparent temperature varies with respect to humidity. In hot summer months (June, July, August ) when humidity is quite high the apparent temperature is significantly higher than normal air temperature. The reason is that due to high concentration of vapors in air, less evaporation occurs on human body and they feel more warmer than normal temperature. Hence when human feels more temperature, the demand for energy proportionally rises in these summer months.
Winter Analysis In winters, since humidity is less in the air and it is less filled with vapors and human body radiates more heat which can easily be transferred to cooler environment. Hence apparently, human feels should less temperature as compared to original recorded temperature. However, we see that in winter season, both temperatures are almost on same scale with less variability. It might be because of high humidity trend seen in winter seasons of 2019 and 2020. Hence, energy demand is dependent on low temperature and less consumed due to it.
Wind Speed trend is also effected from temperature. In summers since temperature is quite high, the temperature (temperature gradient) increases alot between cold and hot air. As a result, hot air rises above cold air and wind speed increases as the temperature difference increases. Therefore, the difference seems to be huge in summers due to high temperature, so wind speed is normally high in summers and relatively low in winters. Pakistan energy production relies very less (about 6%) on wind energy. Hence, more energy consumption in summers is dependent more on other factors (temperature, humidity etc) as compared to wind speed.
Dew point, however, is defined as the lowest temperature at which dewdrops will form, based on how much water vapor is currently in the air.It is analysed from the graph as the temperature rises in the summer months the dew point also starts increasing and so the energy demand. On opposite, in winter months, as temperature starts decreasing the dew point also decreases and energy demand also becomes less. According to a report, electricity demand could increase up-to 20% with a moderate rise in dew point.
The overall analysis shows that temperature is the most affecting parameter of energy load. Other factors varies as temperature varies and also effect energy load.